Jakub Alexander curates the music selections here at the blog. He also runs his Moodgadet record label out of Brooklyn, NY and does A&R for Ghostly International Records.
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So the BBC Radio seems to be the best known radio station in the world for exclusively having songs and being able to play them first and its no different in this case. Domino Recordings handed them a great remix of Animal Collective’s Summertime Clothes which included this Dam Funk remix that pretty much nails the remix if you love synths and funk at a uptempo pace, the remix has such a natural feel to it, it’s so unforced seems like it should be an original.

You may have already heard about the Animal Crack Box and how its only limited to 1000 pressed and how some someone already dropped 2,400USD+ on a copy on ebay. I have been listening to it, its pretty good, i’d maybe pay 40USD tops for a copy of the vinyls at most just for the collection aspect of it. This release just makes me think how much of a crackhead my parent’s thought I must of was collecting hockey cards and having to wake up on the weekends to drive me to the card shows so I could look at the 1000USD limited hockey cards that 45 year old men sold with their stained sweatpants and too small of New York Rangers matching sweatshirts and their bellies partially showing while I spent my allowance on mystery packets of a random collection on pieces of paper that i’d just organize and store later in the evening. I hope they didn’t think I was going to turn into one of those guys but i’m sure it crossed their mind more than once. ok. back to music.

Terrence Dixon, someone once called him the Aphex Twin of Detroit Techno, he is a minimalist not that minimal techno stuff but a true minimalist and a care taker of melody. If you sit and listen and hear what he repeats its pure gold, the magic really lies in the subtle panning of certain parts of the song and well placed additions that pop up perfectly, A must have in your collection if you like to just space out into your design work while the song is chopping away at the waves like your cruising in 1st place in a sailboat race.

Today’s 4 picks might be my favorite in a while, all 4 tracks contain what I’d like to hear all summer while canoeing with friends, a road trip on a breezy tornado weather afternoon or maybe some pick up wiffle ball at McCarren Park.

Tom Croose set the pace on this edit he did of Beirut and with just a few additions the track becomes abit more head noddy. If you’re listening Zach Condon I truely think you should press this on a nice heavy weight 7 inch, with a spine sleeve, on a waxy satin stock and maybe some clear/slate grey marble vinyl, just a thought but i’m sure it’ll sell if you do it, count me in for 2 copies.

The small amount of City Center i’ve heard i’ve fallen in love with, he might instantly have noticeable hints of Animal Collective but without that need making it crazier than it needs to be. Fred Thomas pushes thru Bleed Blood giving us what exactly we want to hear for 6 and half minutes which are the underlaying field recording style vocals and distant surf guitar, echoed woodblocks, a woodsy atmosphere that sounds like its sucking itself inside itself and his entrancing serenade.

Read this in 2 years and i’m going to still have to say I really enjoy this song and i’m sticking to it by “Indietastic” Passion Pit. It has a familiar M83 elements to it but clearer and without the need of the synth taking over but pure good song writing for what it is which is an EPIC indie-electronic pop song.

Are you ready for this Nacho Patrol song? Legowelt aka Nacho Patrol just nailed a genre no one is covering which is the sound of 60’s Johnny Quest meets grainy psychedelic snake charming disco off the coast of an unknown island in South America. I mean come on! when I heard this on Tim Sweeney’s Beats In Space Radio I would of put money down that i’d never find this record because in my mind it was just some hard to find dirty 45 that was found magically at a Florida garage sale under a table sitting on the astroturf and nearly melted in the sun and reeking of some old women’s sun tan lotion.

Do you ever feel like I post too much electronic music? do you ever look at my post and just past by it and put on The Decemberist on? well here is my attempt to make your ears smile.

This summer has alot of promise here in Brooklyn, i’m looking forward to a lot of bands to come thru and blow me away, one in particular is the Harlem Shakes, they maybe my New Villager or your Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or your friends Passion Pit, listen and let me know what you think.

Deastro will be playing a few shows i’m sure with Tycho this year besides just the Detroit and Toronto shows coming up. Randy Chabot is a great if not amazing stage presents when you first see him perform. His sound for Vermillion Plaza is like a young U2 meets the soundtrack to Sonic the Hedgehog(specifically that 3D tube level where you run with tails…blah you might not know what I mean). Either way this band has epic talent and their Moondagger LP will be one that will be remembered on Ghostly’s release catalog.

New Dinosaur Jr. is hitting the record store shelves and all I want to do is listen to Feel The Pain.

When Tortoise comes to mind all I can think about is 3 things: First is fatty synth magic and second is there drummer can’t be a real person and third I remember the first time I saw the drummer play for Prefuse 73 in Detroit years ago and he was soo on point that he literally played one of the most complex parts i’ve seen him play all night while directing, pointing and yelling at the sound guy to the point that playing the song was 3rd on his priority list but still killed it, pure talent in my opinion, oh yeah and the rest of the band is good too.

I feel like we need a good dose of funk and soul sometimes on this blog and Monday couldn’t be a better day for it. This weekend I went to see the Stones Throw Label Showcase at Le Poisson Rouge featuring Dam Funk and James Pants, the crowd was pretty good given the fact they played the Natural History Museum the night before. Dam Funk really stuck out for me as a DJ, he kept the crowd in it by singing over every track and his personality was something you could never hate, he only wanted everyone to have a good time. Below is a super raw mix but the tracklisting is pure class, enjoy.

Whenever I can sneak in a little J Dilla on the blog it makes me smile, I feel like its never a bad thing or that someone would ever say “you know what, there is too much Dilla being played”, actually I don’t think thats ever been said, i’m going to google that phrase…nope no one has ever said it.

Just picked up that Hudson Mohawke EP on Warp on vinyl last week at Other Music but i’ve been looking for this track in the stores. The middle of the track gets a bit too airy and distant for me but the vox with those keys in the last 45 seconds makes it all worth sharing with you.

One of the most avant producers i’ve ever met is Joseph Sims aka JDSY, his aesthetics might come off as a darker Dan Deacon or a unkept geocities site that holds a hidden message but his music is unlike any other. The choices for sounds and melody patterns on his releases give me goosebumps.

Why can’t there be a great AM Gold internet radio station online? that plays Fleet Foxes and Gordon Lightfoot all day and night.

Here is the second installment of Images From Where? and By Who? where we try to figure out who did the original design, photograph or product and if that becomes too easy then its hopefully just a nice small collection of images that might be inspiring for your day of creating.

The first image I just found yesterday and it had nothing attached and the link was generic. I would love to know if these are miniature or full size because i’d save up and buy that small brown one on the right.

The second image i’ve shown Scott once and told him if I could ever have any special power it would be being able to draw the way this car is drawn, incredible work in my opinion.
The third image is just of this generic floppy disc sleeve, you see I use to be a buyer sometimes for a few thrift stores back in Michigan and i’d spend a lot of time looking for a lot of things that looked exactly like this, to most it looks like whatever 80’s junk but i’d probably frame it.

Burial and Four Tet have just put together probably this years best collaborative effort on vinyl. The vinyl release contains two 9 minute tracks that show off both of their skills of making catchy repetitive melodies that lay over airy soundscapes and softened keys. Moth has the potential to become a great piece to space out too while Wolf Cub asks for more of your attention while it plucks along and kicks into dubstepville.

I don’t know much about Bonobo, I really never gave them a real chance in the past because I thought it wasa lounge act mostly because of their album covers just reminded me of those ungodly generic Hotel Costa compilations. This Recurring track is sensational, reminds me of earlier Four Tet and just for you Four Tet followers the new Burial/Four Tet collab 12″ is mind blowing, i’ll post soon.

I was going to wait and make a post titled: Shout Out Out Out Out + Chk Chk Chk + Tings Tings and a bunch of other bands that feel the need that they need to have the same word in their band name twice or more but I got bored of it and erased it. Let’s just get to the real point here which is Shout Out Out Out Out is pretty great no matter what bad choices they make for a band name. The vocal is really catchy and parts of that cover are real nice but I feel that the better designed pieces are the smaller parts and the centered simple illustrations that aren’t as interesting take up too much of the cover, i’m not hating at all here i’m just saying is all.

One of the first 2xLP’s I ever bought that was for DJing something other than Techno or House but still only electronic was Miss Kittin & The Hacker: First Album, it had this feeling all the way thru similar to a beautiful girl that you looks sweet but rude and cold to everyone.